My husband Stew, who has a much better memory that I for dates and anniversaries, reminded me yesterday that 15 years ago, sometime during the first few days of November, we moved to Mexico from Chicago. I do vividly remember our VW Passat station wagon, jam-packed with what we thought were essential belongings, some absurd, such …
Author: Alfredo Lanier
My husband and I live on an off-the-grid ranch outside San Miguel, along with the challenging but dear company of four off-the-street dogs and three cats. My interests lie in politics, writing, photography and sundry forms of spirituality.
Countdown to sanity: 8 days, 6 hours, 25 minutes, 58 seconds
Even some 600 miles away from the nearest U.S. border, we can't escape the roaring chaos surrounding the 2020 presidential election. It reminds me of Thomas Paine's memorable words in 1776: "These are times that try men's souls." Indeed, Thomas: both men's souls and minds.Uncle Rudy has a Halloween surprise. Wednesday, on a typically beautiful, cool and …
Continue reading Countdown to sanity: 8 days, 6 hours, 25 minutes, 58 seconds
When your normal empathy fails you
Two days ago, for a couple of hours, I struggled with the wording of a get-well post for President Trump. My mind went blank; my fingers recoiled; words escaped me. My angst was for naught: On Monday, Trump helicoptered back to the White House, stood on the balcony, defiantly ripped off his mask, like Batman returning …
Then summer left us, without even saying adiós
Without pausing to bring us our essential yearly quota of rainfall, summer at the ranch has come and gone, and we've slid into fall with a landscape that is already sere and yellowed. I don't have any official figures, but the artificial reservoirs surrounding San Miguel appear to be shrinking, instead of bursting and even flooding …
Continue reading Then summer left us, without even saying adiós
Keeping together when the world seems to be coming apart
I'm on the mailing list of Fr. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who heads a retreat and meditation center in Albuquerque. He sends out weekly spiritual messages that often, quite frankly, go over my head. This week's message, though, resonated with me deeply. In it, Rohr seems to describe the mental and spiritual exhaustion many of …
Continue reading Keeping together when the world seems to be coming apart
Reclaiming a piece of land and some peace of mind
The settlement, five weeks ago, of a long-standing land dispute has turned out to be a double blessing. It ended that nerve-racking episode and now, by focusing our attention of restoring the damage left behind, also has taken our minds away from the ongoing pandemic crisis here, and the other bad news from north of the …
Continue reading Reclaiming a piece of land and some peace of mind
When Covid-19 knocked at the door
Six months or so ago San Miguel went into lockdown, and since then we've been living in varying degrees of isolation, along with a relentless stream of news reports and opinions from both sides of the border. And yet, the still-unfolding catastrophe had remained one step removed from my experience: I didn't know any COVID-19 …
Biden's memorable moment of empathy
When Stew and I watch political conventions, award ceremonies and other long-winded televised events, the video recorder is our best friend. We fast forward through the blather and sometimes the commercials, and pause, even replay, moments worth remembering. Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention was one of those moments. Hard to believe, but her …
End to a Mexican standoff
Two years, two months and eleven days after it began, the legal wrangle over a piece of land abutting our ranch ended with the two opposing parties signing an agreement to essentially split the disputed parcels. In a most unceremonious signing ceremony on the sidewalk in front of the civil courthouse—closed to everyone except lawyers and …
Tip-toeing through the wildflowers
Spring is a fickle season around the ranch. Back in the States, we always heard that the spring equinox fell on March 21, give a day or two, and April showers punctually brought May flowers. The safe setout day for spindly seedlings grown indoors was around mid-May in the Chicago area, though if you didn't want …
El Rancho Santa Clara 